Visual Basic 2005 is a development tool that you can use to build applications that perform useful work and look great within a variety of settings. Using Visual Basic 2005, you can create applications for the Windows operating system, the Web, hand-held devices, and a host of other environments and settings. The most important advantage of Visual Basic is that it has been designed to increase productivity in your daily development work—especially if you need to use information in databases or create solutions for the Internet—but an important additional benefit is that once you become comfortable with the development environment in Micro$oft Visual Studio 2005, you can use the same tools to write programs for Micro$oft Visual C++ 2005, Micro$oft Visual C# 2005, Micro$oft Visual J# 2005, and other third-party tools and compilers.
The popular STEP BY STEP approach provides hands-on guidance to beginning-level programmers and those new to Visual Basic, covering key features and fundamental techniques to accelerate their productivity. The companion CD includes data sets and sample code for all exercises.